Responsibility vs Accountability: Is Responsibility Enough?

Take responsibility! Does this phrase ring a bell? The word “responsibility”- has been shoved down our throats throughout our lives. Be it our parents, teachers or even sometimes neighbours. Whenever we made a mistake, we were given the old “stop being so irresponsible”. Room not clean enough? Be more responsible, broke something? Be more responsible and the list of innocent childhood mistakes goes on. “Nobody would hire an irresponsible person like you when you grow up,” is one of the classic teacher’s favourite phrases every child has heard at least once. Maybe not specifically directed towards you, but responsibility is a word no one is a stranger to.

As children, we quickly learn that to survive in the adult world, we need to be more responsible. However, as adults, we realize that it’s not enough. Responsibility is still a key to success, but as we grow up, something about the concept of responsibility feels incomplete. We all remember that teammate who would take responsibility for completing more than half of a project then when the deadline arrived, their work was nowhere to be seen. Many individuals assume responsibility but may not always fulfil their commitments. So, is responsibility enough?

What Is Responsibility?

When you visit someone’s house, are you careful about not making a mess, or turning off the lights and ensuring all the stuff that was used is back in its right place? If you do, congratulations, you are a responsible guest. Responsibility can be defined as the ability to accept the consequences of a choice made by the individual (Blanton, 1956). It refers to the duty of completing a task at hand while being dependable and answerable. For example, let’s say you have a group presentation coming up and you were selected as the team leader. Now, responsibility here would refer to making sure that all team members are aware of their topics and are regularly doing their work while producing quality content themselves. But what after the presentation was made and despite all your hard work, there were some undeniable mistakes? What should the next be or not be? That answer would lie in accountability.

Read More: 10 Strategies for Effective Team Performance, According to Psychology

What Is Accountability?

Despite being responsible, some human errors were made during the presentation. Now what? Do you step away considering you have already been responsible and your duty is over? Or do you step up acknowledge your mistakes and own up to them? If you decide to not accept the consequences of your mistakes and fix them, do you think your teacher or maybe manager would ever trust you again? Probably not. The answer would lie in the failure to take accountability. Accountability is often defined as the act of being receptive to the input of people to who they owe a response for their actions or words. Then use this input to improve their future attitudes or actions to avoid similar mistakes (Witvliet et al., 2022) Now that we have understood what accountability is, do you think that people in the modern world are accountable?

Accountability Vs Responsibility: What Is the Difference?

In simple words, responsibility is the first step towards any successful task, while accountability is ensuring future results. Both words are similar and are often used interchangeably. However, knowing this subtle difference can transform your life, regardless of whether you consider yourself a leader or not. Imagine you are the manager in charge of hiring personnel for a construction project. Now you have the responsibility of hiring good workers. Accountability here would mean compensating the people who bought this building for any infrastructure problem due to workers not doing their jobs properly.

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You are responsible to yourselves and accountable to others (Glaser, 2023). One aspect involves the procedure itself, while the other pertains to managing the outcomes of that procedure. In workplaces, and organizations’ accountability is usually left only to leaders, or managers. Don’t you think in our previous example, it would be hard to track down the one who made the mistake? Due to the sheer number of people in any organization, accountability falls onto the shoulders of the leader of the group.

Why Being Just Responsible Is Not Enough:

Imagine if everybody started playing the blame game, pointing fingers at everybody but themselves. Disastrous no? No work will ever be done as “it’s not my fault” is the easy way to get out. Discipline comes from acknowledging the consequences. Yes, being responsible is the core of accountability. However, taking responsibility for a task without caring for the result is not enough. Here are some benefits of being not only responsible but accountable:

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• Discipline: Being accountable helps people realize the gravity of their actions, how it impacts them and others, and why it matters. Until you own up to your mistakes, you can say goodbye to discipline, as following through with promises is not a priority. Holding yourself accountable is a constant reminder of our responsibilities, helping us become more disciplined in the future.
• Clear Goals: When you are accountable, you become more aware of things people overlook leading to unavoidable failure. Accountability helps people look back and reflect on past tasks. This eventually helps them set clear goals that reflect our past lessons and a stronger (Finkelstein, 2023).
• Builds Trust: Would you ever trust a person who keeps making promises but never follows through? No, right? Similarly, without accountability, employees in an organization find it hard to trust their subordinates, as nobody feels responsible for mistakes. This leads to a toxic environment that promotes passive-aggressive behaviour.
• Enhances Focus: When people own up to their mistakes, they also try to avoid making them. Accountability helps people focus better on the task at hand to avoid repeating past mistakes. This encourages productivity and a drive for improvement.

Read More: 10 Habits of Highly Focused Individuals, According to Psychology

Being responsible plays a huge role in our lives, without it we won’t be where we are right now. However, it is time we realize that just being responsible and taking up tasks you can never do justice to is equally irresponsible. Accountability might not be that different from accountability
but it has the potential to transform the current organizational culture. Sadly we are nowhere near this utopian vision as people continue to avoid the consequences of their actions. However, you can be the start of this change, stand up and take charge of your life and career by being not just responsible but also accountable.

FAQs

1. How does Accountability differ from responsibility?

Responsibility is task-focused and is related to a person’s role in completing a certain task. Whereas accountability id result-focused. It is the act reacting or owning to the consequences or results of their task.

2. Why do we have a lack of Accountability in an organization?

According to experts accountability is a condition that occurs when an organization does not communicate clearly, build trust and reinforce when needed. This creates a culture of people avoiding owning to their obligations and responsibilities.

3. Why is Accountability difficult?

Accountability is a difficult skill that creates a lot of stress and frustration for both employers and employees. With current trends to push down decision-making and empower people to run more efficient units or departments, many organizations are finding it difficult to yield the intended results.

4. Can there be too much accountability?

Accountability is an empowering skill in any organization. However, using the attribute to put a gun over someone’s shoulder can have the opposite effect. It leads to the cultivation of fear amongst teammates and closes the door to learning from failure.